When writing songs, many young authors make a number of typical mistakes, which can be grouped together to form a separate TOP. Yes, these mistakes are quite common and not just for one author. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you play, whether it’s country, rock, electronic or indie-pop – surely you want your songs to be interesting for your listener.
Why is song content so important?
The song is a fundamental part of what any music group or solo artist does. No music guru or music theorist can tell you exactly what will 100% “hook” your listeners, but there are a number of things you need to pay attention to. These things cannot be ignored, because you must agree that it is better to understand how it all works than to start doing something without having any idea about what you are going to do.
Top mistakes in songwriting
- Prolonging
Songs that are too long are one of the obvious mistakes you should definitely avoid. A person is unlikely to listen to one piece of music that is longer than 4-5 minutes – this is a kind of psychological threshold. The listener should always be interested, so such long parts can simply scare him away. It is always necessary to proceed from the fact that if some part can be made shorter, it should be shorter.
After all, who would have thought that “Billie Jean” might not have been a hit at all. The thing is that in the original version of the song, recorded by Michael Jackson, the introduction lasted three minutes, and the song itself lasted an “impossible” 11 minutes. But thanks to the involvement of the producer, who removed everything unnecessary, we have a work of musical art.
Of course, the long part can be made interesting, but it is not possible in all cases. And it’s not always appropriate.
- A weak refrain.
When we listen to foreign songs, in most cases, the main thing that most “hooks” us is the refrain. In Russian songs it is not so evident, but it is also present.
When listening to music of young singers, it’s not always possible to see the beginning of a refrain after the verse. The refrain should stand out against the background of the music. Differences can be minor: the addition of backing vocals, one or more musical instruments. Or the differences can be more serious: other chords, changing the melody itself with the arrangement. The first example of a drastic difference between a chorus and a verse that comes to mind is “Hotel California” by the Eagles.
- lack of focus
Young artists have songs where the transitions from one chord to the next are unclear and there is no clear focus at all. And it is noticed not by some skilled musician, but the average music listener.
As a rule, this is a direct consequence of insufficient work, i.e., “fast-track” songwriting.
- lack of bridge
A bridge in music is a kind of bridge that connects different parts of songs, creating a logical transition between them.
If when you’re listening to a song you feel like a chorus or another verse is about to come on, but you hear a piece that is different from the overall composition, chances are it’s a bridge.
Its presence keeps the listener interested. And the bridge is in almost every song with rare exceptions.
- A boring arrangement.
This problem can occur with different artists, regardless of their experience. What is meant here is that the musical composition includes the same set of chords. Sometimes this works as an original technique, but it happens very rarely because it does get a little boring. - No Hooks.
A hook in music (we are not referring to the classical repertoire now) is a part of a musical composition that somehow stands out and is particularly liked by listeners. In translation, hook is a hook, i.e. this part of the song “hooks”. - No dynamics
A good song is always a rhythm and dynamics, not just a monotonous sound. This is a kind of “tension” and “discharge” in the song, so when writing a song you should always think about the volume level in different parts of the song.